Wednesday, April 29, 2009

When Stress Intesnsifies Disease...

Stress seems to be the watchword of our times - triggered by everything from health issues to economic woes, to fear over the state of world politics.

And while some react predictably by becoming irritable, snappish, and ultimately suffering from high blood pressure, others react with physical symptoms not immediately attributed to stress.

Take, for instance, the gentleman who, after 2 years, didn't get over his bout with the flu. When the major symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea finally faded, he continued to experience headaches, fatigue, stomach cramps, nausea, bloating, gas, loss of appetite, serious weight loss and more. It didn't feel good to eat, so he quit - then eating irregularly caused more problems - the intestines just don't react well in that situation. So, the problem took on a life of its own.

Because this worried him, he began going to doctors and undergoing one test after another, becoming more and more stressed over the thought that he could have a serious illness. Finally the doctors diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome. They did recognize that stress was contributing greatly to this man's ever escalating medical distress, so prescribed anti-anxiety medication. But he won't take it because he fears the side effects of prescription drugs even more than he fears his present condition.

I wish I could talk to this man. I'd suggest Bach Flower Essences, starting with the Feel5ive formula for stress. Had he been taking it two years ago when all this started, his original stomach virus would likely be a distant memory.